Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted a net inflow of $517.2 million on Aug. 20 (local time), the largest daily inflow since May 4.

Cointelegraph reported that the inflow lifted cumulative net inflows for August to $1.47 billion.

Funds flowing into bitcoin spot ETFs totalled about $1 billion this week. That is the strongest net inflow trend since the week ended Jan. 16. Weekly net inflows then were about $1.42 billion.

The inflows coincided with a surge in cryptocurrency prices. Bitcoin traded near $72,900 and rose 5.47 percent over the past 24 hours and 15.34 percent over 7 days. Ethereum climbed to around $2,320, up 23.43 percent over the past 7 days.

The market sees U.S. Treasury bond purchase policy and regulatory issues as jointly affecting investor sentiment. The U.S. Treasury announced an expansion of buybacks of long-term Treasury bonds. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, also drew renewed attention after urging Congress at a White House event to push ahead with the Clarity bill.

Jonathan Landin (조너선 랜딘), a senior analyst at PrimeXBT, said the U.S. Treasury signalled it would intervene in the long-term market, weakening Treasury yields and the dollar. He said the fact that gold and silver outperformed stocks that day showed the market took the move as an event tied to currency value rather than growth.

Bitcoin also rose alongside gold and silver. Landin interpreted this as the result of a so-called debasement trade, in which investors buy alternative assets to hedge against a decline in currency value.

Ethereum spot ETFs also continued to see inflows. Net inflows on Aug. 20 were $189.2 million, and cumulative inflows this week were tallied at about $291.5 million.

Against this backdrop, spot ETF flows are again coming into focus as an indicator supporting gains in bitcoin and ethereum prices. In particular, with this week’s inflows into bitcoin spot ETFs swelling to the biggest level since the strong market early this year, the next focus is expected to be whether inflows continue and whether the price rally is sustained.